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(No Model.)

R. SPEAR.

FLUID PRESSURE REGULATOR. N0. 331,008. Patented NOV. 24,1885.

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ROBERT SPEAR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FLUID-PRESSURE REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,008, dated November24, 1885.

Application filed April 8, 1835. Serial No. 161,590. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SPEAR, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fluid-PressureRegulators or Governors; and I-do declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

The object of my invention is to provide for certain improvements in afluid-pressure regulator or governor of the class described in LettersPatent N 0. 97,324., granted to me November 30, 1869, in which theaction of the governor is entirely independent of any motion derivedfrom the engine or machinery, the pressure of steam or other fluid beingcon trolled with relation to the combined and reciprocal action ofgravity,and the pressure of the fluid to be regulated in such a way asto cause a uniform force to be exerted upon the engine or machinerywhile in operation, or produce a uniform discharge of the fluidregardless of the amount of force or its sudden changes when in excessof the degree of pressure to which the regulating devices are set oradjusted.

My present invention consists in certain improvements in theconstruction and combination of parts whereby the governor is renderedmore simple, compact, and inexpensive.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating the invention, Figure l is avertical section of my improved fluid-pressure regulator, and Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the same.

The governor shell or casing A is formed with an expanded lower portion,that constitutes an inlet-chamber, B, an expanded upper portionconstituting an upper chamber, 0, and an intermediate cylindricalopen-en ded pistonchamber, D, which incloses a freely movable piston, E,said chambers being arranged to communicate, as shown. The floor of thelower chamber, B, is formed by a conical valve-case, G, that rests on abase-plate, a, to which is attached an inlet-pipe, F, that connects witha steam-boiler or other fluid source.

A valve, H, is attached to the lower end of a tubular piston-rod, K, towhich the piston E is attached. This valve is preferably formed withinclined sides corresponding with the conical form of its casing, and isadapted to control the opening at the top of said valvecase, and soregulate the pressure at the egress I, which is in connection with theengine.

It may be remarked that While I prefer to make the sides of the valve Hand valve-case G inclined, as shown, yet I am fully aware that they maybe differently constructed with equally good results. I do not thereforecolifine myself to any peculiar formation of such valve or valve-casing.

Through the tubular piston-rod Kis a stop pin, [2, for arresting thedescent of the piston and valve when the machine is stopped.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 1 that the piston E is freelymovable in its casing or cylinder, there being a sufficient space between it and its piston to permit a film of fluid to pass by it fromchamber 0 to chamber B. It will also be seen that the tubular piston-rodK is provided above the piston E with apertures e 6, through which steamor other fluid at the pressure of the power or fluid source will beadmitted to the space above the piston. The upper portion of thepiston-rod may be made solid, or be connected, as shown, to a solidextension-rod, K, that passes through a stuffing-box, c, in a capplate,L, which closes the top of the upper chamber, 0, said cap-plate beingsecured by screw-bolts d d or other suitable fastenings.

To the upper part of the piston-rod or extension-rod K, as the case maybe, and exterior to the shell A, are placed one or more removableweights, M, that may rest upon a shoulder formed on the rod or upon adisk or pin secured thereto. By means of these weights the apparatus isso adjusted that any excess of pressure on the lower side of the valve Hwill be neutralized after the piston and valve have been brought to astate of equilibrium by the admission of steam or other force above andbelow the piston.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the area of the top of thevalve H is less than the area of the bottom of the piston E, for thereason that when the fluid is admitted into the machine the outlet I(which must always be less than theinlet F) being open, the tendency ofthe action of the fluid will be to close the valve H, but which isprevented from completely closing it by the weights M M, their actionbeing to cause the fluid to be delivered in proportion to the amount ofgravity applied regardless of the increase or diminution in thefluid-pressure when the machine is adjusted to a pressure less than thatof the fluid source. The quantity or volume of the fluid to be deliveredis determined by a valve or stop-cock (not shown) in the eductionpipe I,while the pressure of the same is regulated in the manner abovedescribed. As has been stated, the fundamental principle controlling theoperations of this machine being the combined and reciprocal action ofgravity with the pressure or energy of the fluid to be regulated, itfollows that if the outlet I is of the proper size or less than theinlet F, the fluid will be discharged with a uniform pressure regardlessof the increase or diminution of pressure in the fluid source so long asthe pressure of the same is greater than that at which the machine isadjusted by the amount of weight applied upon the pistonrod. The reasonof this is obvious by considering the tendency of an increase ofpressure to elevate or approximately close the valve H, while adiminution of the energy of the fluid must have the opposite effect oftending to weaken the pressure in the chamber B, which pressure is theprop or support of the weight, which by its descent depresses the valve,thus enlarging the space between it and its circumscribed case. By thismeans a uniform pressure is maintained in chamber B, in which conditionit can be delivered through a valve or stopcock in the eduction pipe Ifrom the least possible amount up to the full capacity of the machine.It is thus shown that the quantity of the fluid to be delivered isdetermined by the stop-cock or Valve in the eduction pipe I, while theenergy or pressure of the fluid is regulated by gravity, which can beincreased or diminished to any definite degree with the greatestfacility.

By a well regulated pressure gage (not shown) placed upon theeduction-pipe I,with

the machine in operation, can readily be determined the size of theweights to be used for the delivery of the fluid from one pound orfractional part of that pressure per inch to the greatest amount thatmay be required. From what has already been stated relating to theprinciple governing the operation of the machine it is obvious that theamount of gravity required depends on the difference in the area of thebottom of the piston E and the top of the valve H; hence this disparityin area should be only what is actually required to cause a lively oractive motion of the piston-rod K with all its attachments. By thisconstruction and arrangement of devices the slight range of movementrequired by the piston E is entirely unattended by friction, except suchas is necessarily incident to the passage of the piston-rod through thestuffingbox at the top of the apparatus. The piston E is what may betermed a freepiston,being without rings, and is made a trifle smallerthan the cylindrical chamber D, so as to permit a film of the fluid topass between said parts. When the fluid is admitted through the pipe orinlet- F, a sufficient quantity will pass up through the tubularpiston-rod K and its apertures e e to charge the space above the pistonE with the same pressure that exists in the fluid source, or as thatwhich impinges against the bottom of the valve H, and,as thearea of theupper face of the piston is equal to the area of the lower face of thevalve,the pressure on one side will counterbalance that on the other, soas to maintain an equilibrium. By attaching more or less weight to thepiston-rod the devices can now be adjusted to any degree ofpressure-discharge less than that of the power or fluid source.

As the fundamental principle governing the action and operation of thismachine is the combined and reciprocal action of gravity 5 and thepressure or energy of the fluid to be regulated, it matters not howthefgravity i applied, except for the sake of convenience in adjustment.

It is obvious that this principle of 'construct-ion can be applied in avariety of ways in different kinds of machines and'for various purposes;and I therefore do not wish tobe understood as confining myself to theprecise details of construction hereinbefore set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fluid-pressure regulator or governor, the combination, with theshell A, having induction and eduction openings and valve-cas ing G, ofthe piston-rod K K, partly tubular, and provided with perforations e 6,stop b, and removable weights M M, and the piston E, and valve H,mounted on said tubular; piston-rod below its perforations,substantially as described.

2. In a fluid-pressure regulator, the combination of the shell A,havirig eduction-pipe I, the valve-casing G, having inlet F, the tubularpiston-rod K, provided with a stop-pin, b, and perforations e e, thepiston E, and valve H, attached to said piston-rod, and the removableweights M, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SPEAR. Witnesses:

FRED E. TASKER, E. L. WHITE.

ICO

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